Saunders said they would have preferred to keep their union a secret but believed it would eventually be revealed.

After procrastinating about what to do, they agreed to an interview for the Seven Network's affiliated magazine New Idea.

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"We didn't expect it or plan it to come out at all, to be honest, but we had this awful feeling it would and possibly in a way that we wouldn't really like," Saunders said.

"The timing was not ideal and we would have preferred it earlier (in the series) if not at all, but I'm glad it wasn't this week."

Their departure leaves just seven teams to fight out the Seven Network series.

Saunders said it was an exhausting yet rewarding experience but not something she would do again nor suggest to her friends.

"We went on the show to test our resilience and it definitely did that and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone I like," Saunders said with a giggle.

"We are just pawns in the game, to be honest, and that's why you never see me do endorsements for the show because we did have some very bad experiences.

"The good, though, far outweighs the bad."

Saunders said filming the series was mentally draining because of the tight schedule and being, in effect, in lock-down until they were eliminated.

"You don't see your family or anyone outside of the show, so (My Kitchen Rules) becomes your entire existence and the thought of it being taken away through elimination is really frightening," she said.

Saunders, who teaches high school near Newcastle, said there had been no backlash from family, friends or work colleagues about going public with her relationship with Middleton.

She said she did get a hard time from her students because of her jovial manner on the show compared with her firm approach to teaching cooking.

"They're like, 'Miss, I see you on that show and you are way more serious with us'," she said.

"I tell them, 'I have their education in my hand and I'm not going to carry on like a pork chop'."